A magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred at 7:38 a.m. Wednesday beneath the seafloor, about four miles west of the UC Santa Barbara campus, says the US Geological Survey. The quake, which started 7.8 miles deep, was felt over a wide area of Southern and central California, producing shaking noticed in such places as Bakersfield, Long Beach, Lancaster, Pismo Beach, Lompoc and Hollywood. USGS didn't immediately announce which fault produced the quake, but it might have been in the area of the Red Mountain system. The Santa Barbara channel is etched with sizable faults, and the region has produced many moderate-to-large shakers. A 6.3 quake broke due west of Santa Barbara on June 29, 1925. And that entire area of the California coast was shaken hard on November 4, 1927 by a 7.1 quake that occurred west of Lompoc.

George Foulsham, a spokesman for UC Santa Barbara, told U-T San Diego that, "The quake was widely felt, but we don't have any reports of injuries or damage."